New Lenovo ThinkServer TS140 70A4000HUX i3-4130 3.4GHz Server Desktop Computer
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This is My Opinion About This Product
After I buy this New Lenovo ThinkServer TS140 70A4000HUX i3-4130 3.4GHz Server Desktop Computer (Personal Computers)
Received server today, so this is just quick feedback for all you thinking about it out there.
I got it for use as home server, similar to what other people use HP mini server. Nicely built heavy metal case, sound dampening and quiet. No dust filters.
Inside it has:
280 W HE Bronze PSU.
4 memory slots, One stick 4 Gb installed.
5 SATA ports
1 PCI slot, 2 PCI-E X16, 1 PCI-E X4
2 well ventilated HD inch bays with front fan blowing on them, 2 HDs more can be installed into slots that are not so well ventilated.
2 display ports and 1 VGA
There are reports about these servers (this one and earlier version, TS130) not supporting certain OS (i.e. Ubuntu, Centos). I took 80 Gb Intel SSD with Lubuntu 13.4 from my Lenovo T420 laptop, plugged into SATA inside and booted Lubuntu in under 10 sec. Using it to write this review right now. I believe the problem is incorrect configuration of UEFI boot, suggest switching to legacy BIOS boot. You will loose space over 2 Tb on larger HD though.
Lubuntu is lightweight Ubuntu mod and I believe boot is the same. Can not quite understand if audio works in Lubuntu. Dont need it anyways.
Power usage by Lubuntu with one SSD installed is 19 W at idle and 45 W at max CPU according to my watt meter. Most of the time it will be idle so the annual 24/7 energy use expected at 166 KWh which translates into about $30 per year where I live. Every HDD will add about 10W but they can be configured to go to sleep when not in use.
Windows 7 with drivers installed consumes 17.5 W when idle. Wundows experience index with single memory stick:
CPU: 7.3
Memory: 5.9
Graphics: 5.0
Gaming Graphics: 6.5
I expect Memory and Graphics go up when second memory stick installed and dual channel mode kicks in.
To enter BIOS press F1 the moment you see first text or logo after you turned it on.
Did I mention it has remote management capability? Startup/shutdown only though?
Update 12/16/2013:
Added 4 GB memory for second channel: Crucial Technology CT51272BD160B 4GB, 240-pin DIMM, DDR3 PC3-12800 CL=9 Dual Ranked Unbuffered ECC 1.35V 512Meg x 72 Memory, installed into blue slots.
Windows experience index for Win 7 64 bit with memory in dual channel mode:
CPU: 7.3
Memory: 7.6
Graphics: 6.6
Gaming Graphics: 6.6
UPDATE Deb. 23, 2014
I have this server working as Windows 7 Mediacenter fed by HDHomerun Prime with Cable card. Used old small SSD as OS disk and two WD Greed 3 Tb for recording. JBOD, no RAID on any kind. It easily handles 3 channel recording and playback. Any significant CPU usage only observed when compskip kicks in to mark commercials.
I first attempted to connect TV via VGA port on motherboard but no avail. Unless there is another monitor attached to the display port it would refuse to display through VGA to the TV. I ended up using very old PCI_E v1 video card GeForce 8500GT I had from 2007 with loss of video performance. Was still ok though even with 1080 video. It works well when you have regular display attached to VGA even with 2560x1440 resolution but not when attached to 1080p TV.
I bought cheapest Display Port to HDMI female-female cable of fleabay. Standalone video card was removed and both video and audio are fed through that cable. HDCP works for protected content with TV; it did not work with Dell monitor. Plenty of power and memory remains to run few small VMs and transcoding. Typical power usage with two HDDs while recording is about 30W.
I got it for use as home server, similar to what other people use HP mini server. Nicely built heavy metal case, sound dampening and quiet. No dust filters.
Inside it has:
280 W HE Bronze PSU.
4 memory slots, One stick 4 Gb installed.
5 SATA ports
1 PCI slot, 2 PCI-E X16, 1 PCI-E X4
2 well ventilated HD inch bays with front fan blowing on them, 2 HDs more can be installed into slots that are not so well ventilated.
2 display ports and 1 VGA
There are reports about these servers (this one and earlier version, TS130) not supporting certain OS (i.e. Ubuntu, Centos). I took 80 Gb Intel SSD with Lubuntu 13.4 from my Lenovo T420 laptop, plugged into SATA inside and booted Lubuntu in under 10 sec. Using it to write this review right now. I believe the problem is incorrect configuration of UEFI boot, suggest switching to legacy BIOS boot. You will loose space over 2 Tb on larger HD though.
Lubuntu is lightweight Ubuntu mod and I believe boot is the same. Can not quite understand if audio works in Lubuntu. Dont need it anyways.
Power usage by Lubuntu with one SSD installed is 19 W at idle and 45 W at max CPU according to my watt meter. Most of the time it will be idle so the annual 24/7 energy use expected at 166 KWh which translates into about $30 per year where I live. Every HDD will add about 10W but they can be configured to go to sleep when not in use.
Windows 7 with drivers installed consumes 17.5 W when idle. Wundows experience index with single memory stick:
CPU: 7.3
Memory: 5.9
Graphics: 5.0
Gaming Graphics: 6.5
I expect Memory and Graphics go up when second memory stick installed and dual channel mode kicks in.
To enter BIOS press F1 the moment you see first text or logo after you turned it on.
Did I mention it has remote management capability? Startup/shutdown only though?
Update 12/16/2013:
Added 4 GB memory for second channel: Crucial Technology CT51272BD160B 4GB, 240-pin DIMM, DDR3 PC3-12800 CL=9 Dual Ranked Unbuffered ECC 1.35V 512Meg x 72 Memory, installed into blue slots.
Windows experience index for Win 7 64 bit with memory in dual channel mode:
CPU: 7.3
Memory: 7.6
Graphics: 6.6
Gaming Graphics: 6.6
UPDATE Deb. 23, 2014
I have this server working as Windows 7 Mediacenter fed by HDHomerun Prime with Cable card. Used old small SSD as OS disk and two WD Greed 3 Tb for recording. JBOD, no RAID on any kind. It easily handles 3 channel recording and playback. Any significant CPU usage only observed when compskip kicks in to mark commercials.
I first attempted to connect TV via VGA port on motherboard but no avail. Unless there is another monitor attached to the display port it would refuse to display through VGA to the TV. I ended up using very old PCI_E v1 video card GeForce 8500GT I had from 2007 with loss of video performance. Was still ok though even with 1080 video. It works well when you have regular display attached to VGA even with 2560x1440 resolution but not when attached to 1080p TV.
I bought cheapest Display Port to HDMI female-female cable of fleabay. Standalone video card was removed and both video and audio are fed through that cable. HDCP works for protected content with TV; it did not work with Dell monitor. Plenty of power and memory remains to run few small VMs and transcoding. Typical power usage with two HDDs while recording is about 30W.
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